CO-PARTNER(S)

Botkyrka Konsthall (Sweden); Centre of Contemporary Art (Poland).

DESCRIPTION

LOCIS is an artist-in-residence programme involving a rural local authority (Ireland), an arts centre in a large provincial town (Poland) and an arts organisation in a suburb of a capital city (Sweden).

LOCIS encourages the principle that high-quality arts projects can be based anywhere, and that networking across borders can occur from anywhere in Europe. LOCIS also recognises that projects which collaborate with the wider community integrate the thinking of artists from different countries into society and bring a greater appreciation of European artists to the general public.

The concept is that each country sends one of their leading artists to one of the other two countries to work with, and mentor, a group of emerging artists. Each group consists of four artists, referred to as ‘Location Artists’, as they share the location where the residency is held.

Each group discusses their interests. The lead artist shares his/her approach to art, methodologies and motivations. They develop a work programme which relates to their interests and to the wider community, with sufficient autonomy to follow the most appropriate direction.

Each group meets for three one-week periods over six months. There is ongoing contact through www.locis.eu to devise work and update the other groups, the wider arts community and the general public. After six months, an exhibition and seminar are held in all three locations, attended by all participants.

In the second year, the order is reversed so that after two years each country has sent and received a lead artist to/from each country.

FURTHER INFORMATION

TESTIMONIAL

Two ongoing central objectives of Leitrim County Council are to develop initiatives that prove and support the belief that a high-quality international arts practice can be based in a rural location and to provide international arts experiences of the highest quality for Leitrim audiences to engage with. LOCIS successfully addresses both of these objectives. While the primary beneficiaries of the programme are the participating artists and the communities and audiences that those artists interact with, the programme also presents additional opportunities for international curators to engage with other artists in Leitrim and to raise the profile of the arts in the county among a general non-arts audience.

IRISH ORGANISATION PROFILE

The Arts Office of Leitrim County Council is responsible for arts development, in all its facets, throughout the entire local authority area of County Leitrim.

In addition to policy development, the Arts Office provides information, advice and assistance to a wide variety of clients. It develops and coordinates many programmes independently and in association with local, national and international partners.

The central objective of the Arts Office is to encourage the widest number of individuals and communities to become involved in the arts both as participants and audiences, to further the value, role and recognition of the arts in society, and to provide professional development opportunities for individual artists.